


Actually Tag Tagging

by Moon6Shadow



Series: Fandom Meta [5]
Category: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides - Fandom, no-fandom
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, History, Implied/Referenced Autism Speaks, Reposting is only allowed for historic preservation with credit; not for personal or financial gain., actually autistic, actually disabled, actually tag, tagging, via a linked post tagged Anti-Autism Speaks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21705946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon6Shadow/pseuds/Moon6Shadow
Summary: The actually tag started off as the actually autistic tag and has since spread to become the actually [disabled] tag used by people with many different disabilities and given how versatile it is could perhaps spread even further to help even more people find each other.It's already kicked off and really helped similar people find each other on Tumblr and it would be nice to see it more on fandom sites like AO3 as well.
Series: Fandom Meta [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1516400
Kudos: 4





	Actually Tag Tagging

**Author's Note:**

> Square brackets are used to show where other words could be in put eg. 'actually [disabled]' could be 'actually gay' etc. as well as used to show edited quotes.

Something I’ve been thinking about for awhile in regard to helping similar people find each other is the 'actually tag'.

The actually tag started off as the 'actually autistic' tag and has since spread to become the 'actually [disabled]' tag used by people with many different disabilities and given how versatile it is could perhaps spread even further to help even more people find each other.

Some people have misunderstood the actually tag as a gate keeping tag before, in those cases believing they are ‘not disabled enough’, so just to clarify this tag has _never_ been about gatekeeping but _always_ about helping similar people find each other in places where they might otherwise feel they are being drowned out. 

For some history:

"I named this page after the tumblr tag #actuallyautistic, which was created in 2011 by the tumblr autistic community! I witnessed its creation […] The tag was created because neurotypical [non-autistic/non-ADHD etc] people were flooding the autism tag with their opinions. So a group of autistic activists came together and made the actuallyautistic tag as a place for the community to be open, comfortable and safe. This beautiful idea paved the way for other actually tags (eg. actuallydisabled)"

\- Actually Autistic (facebook, [pinned post](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Factuallyautistic&t=MGFjY2I1ZmE2NWM1ZWYyNTExZGQ1ZGE3NjliYTJlMzViZGQ2OGNkOSxXRUI0b2g1Sg%3D%3D&b=t%3AtX1CuVvnGjvYPn4BJ2tE7A&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmoon6shadow-writing-reference.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189529151230%2Fthe-idea-that-fans-by-nature-of-existing-and&m=1) #Anti-Autism Speaks. The short post talks about how the 'actually autistics' tag was created by the autistic community _not_ Autism Speaks.)

"The short version is that the autism tag was and is an unsafe place for many autistic people because folks didn't get that autistic people were following and reading and _might be capable of having opinions on what we were reading_ , the actuallyautistic/ actually autistic tags are safer for some autistic people, and thus they exist."

\- [Alyssa ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fyesthattoo.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F09%2Fwhy-actually-autistic-tag.html&t=YTA0ZWJhNTkxMmE4YTQ2MWQwODg0NGJkZGRhYmY2NTk5YzJjMzc5NixXRUI0b2g1Sg%3D%3D&b=t%3AtX1CuVvnGjvYPn4BJ2tE7A&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmoon6shadow-writing-reference.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189529151230%2Fthe-idea-that-fans-by-nature-of-existing-and&m=1)

Understandably not everyone might feel comfortable with revealing personal details about themselves online but for those who _are_ comfortable. The actually tag has already kicked off and really helped similar people find each other on Tumblr and it would be nice to see it more on fandom sites like AO3 as well.

* * *

Using actually tags:

To quote [Alyssa](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fyesthattoo.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F09%2Fwhy-actually-autistic-tag.html&t=YTA0ZWJhNTkxMmE4YTQ2MWQwODg0NGJkZGRhYmY2NTk5YzJjMzc5NixXRUI0b2g1Sg%3D%3D&b=t%3AtX1CuVvnGjvYPn4BJ2tE7A&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmoon6shadow-writing-reference.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189529151230%2Fthe-idea-that-fans-by-nature-of-existing-and&m=1): "[The actually autistic] tag is meant as "the person posting this is themself autistic." Not everything on that tag is immediately and obviously autism related, but it's _usually_ something that the poster thinks is related to their own autism. Sometimes it might be something that an autistic poster wants other autistic people to see, which is a pretty reasonable use of tags."

eg. a story where the characters are [disabled], or there are [disabled] relevant moments, and so you might use an 'actually [disabled]' tag and/or an 'actually [disabled] author' tag because you want to help other [disabled] people find you.

Reblogging (Tumblr-centric):

I'm not sure of the correct actually tag tagging etiquette but for me personally I see using or keeping actually tags when reblogging as a way of saying 'I'm actually [disabled] as well'. So I try to avoid using/copying actually tags to do with things I'm not and instead use 'actually [eg. ADHD] op' (op = original poster) if I want to keep actually tags on a post.

If I relate to the post and want to essentially go 'me too' without using a tag that doesn't fit me then I might use an umbrella actually tag as well as an op tag eg. 'actually disabled', 'actually neurodivergent (people who are autistic, ADHD etc.)' as a way of saying I relate to the original poster's situation without doing the whole 'I don't have that thing but I do have this thing so this is relatable' explanation.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading!! <3
> 
> #Fandom for Fun, so not looking for critics but pretty much all polite feedback including Whisper and Murmur comments are totally welcome. If you've left feedback in the form of kudos, bookmarks and/or comments I likely won't see feedback immediately, but I will see it eventually so thank you!! 
> 
> Open series to see my detailed [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject) statement or see [Poetry and Short Stories](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1007304) series notes for my Blanket Permission Statement but basically, as long as you credit, yes you can.


End file.
